Switchblades/tTrust No One Recordings

5

As usual, this latest offering by Switchblade is tough going. We're six minutes into what has to be classified as a pretty boring opening track ("Movement I"), before things kick off in earnest and -- luckily -- what does kick off is nothing short of psychedelic uneasiness, more down to the vocals than anything else. This album has some great moments; every song has some part that really, really kicks ass. The problem is that Switchblade take so damn long to get there every time that it comes across as boring in a lot of places. It's heavy; there's no denying that. But if we take it at face value, around half of it is "wow, killer" and half of it is "yeah, whatever."- John Norby